Rescue ship carrying 230 migrants docks at the French port of Toulon amid a blazing row between France and Italy over which country is responsible for them
The Ocean Viking, operated by a French NGO, had picked up the migrants at sea near the Libyan coast before spending weeks seeking a port to accept them.
He said Italy's refusal to accept the migrants was "incomprehensible" and that there would be "severe consequences" for Italy's bilateral relations with France, and with the European Union as a whole.READ MORE:On Friday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned what she called an "aggressive reaction" by the French government, telling reporters that France's criticism was "incomprehensible and unjustified".
A French doctor boarded the ship before it docked to identify the most vulnerable members of the migrant group to be brought on land first. Some 600 police were deployed for the ship's arrival, with the Red Cross in charge of humanitarian aid.Meloni, head of Italy's most right-wing government in decades, has appeared ready to push the dispute to the top of the European agenda.
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